Commensalism with SLR and prospective heavy industry

This project will set an inspiring vision for those sites sharing key similarities like narrow bay lands, pocket marshes with shallow water and near heavy industry with both low-density and low-income residential. Sites in the Bay Area includes Pinole, Yosemite-visitation, and point Richmond. This type is squeezed by steep bluffs, with some pocket marshes/small creeks and small mudflats, and areas of shallow water, protected in a cove-like orientation in a high wave environment. These areas also have roads or rail near the water that cross or bisect open space on either side. And in terms of the destiny of traditional refineries, most of them in these areas will not be demolished but will be transformed into biodiesel refinery like Philips SF 66 Refinery claiming that they’ll be the world’s largest renewable fuels plant by 2040. That is to say, the potential space for displacement and development there is limited, and the low-income community are vulnerable to not only the risk of near-term sea level rise but also certain pollution from new heavy industry in the future for decades.

To prevent those sites from short-term risk and bring back justice, more occupation and carbonization, we made a plan displayed as below in priorities order:

A. Reduce flood risk and focus on those properties which will be vulnerable towards flood first and provide the community with equal safety and living convenience.

B. Increase investment to infrastructure like sewage with filtration system and environmental-friendly energy system to better utilize byproducts from heavy industry. This way can also mitigate the secondary pollution after production and environmental racism.

C. Create urban ecological network with different-scale parks, gardens, LID streets all over the community based on augmented infrastructure and provide equal access to nature world with less greenhouse gases for each resident.

D. Develop multiple new economy with support of transformed industry and newly planned urban ecological network. Those new economy will employ considerable quantity of occupations for local labor to ease the high unemployment rate and poverty rate.

Design Narration of Rodeo Restoration Project

This focus area was selected because it contains a variety of regional systems, including a railroad, a huge refinery waiting to be transformed into biodiesel refinery, San Pablo Corridor (Priority Development Areas) and the vulnerable community of Rodeo. There are three main issues worth attentions which are flood by SLR, challenges brought by biodiesel refinery since 2024 and weak local economy.

Facing current flood, the whole Rodeo is protected by rail track with small portions of wetlands, creek embankments, and berms. But right now, they are showing weakness and overtopping occurs frequently to submerge the near-coast, low-lying community and even industrial infrastructures. And for refinery transition, though there will be considerable occupations for local labor and nearly 50% reduction of greenhouse gases emission as Philips 66 SF Refinery declared, the new byproducts of biodiesel from used cooking oil, fat or greases will also add burden to local environment if they cannot be disposed properly. And with 50% reduction of air pollution, it is also 3x more than CCC average. At last, the economy, shown by data, poverty rate, income per year and unemployment rate is clearly lower than the data of CCC.

So, in my project, I want to figure out how does a flood-risk community coexist in harmony with biodiesel refinery, adapt to flood with decarbonization, more jobs and more justice.

I come up with two strategy. One is for sea level rise and another is for refinery transformation. First, I plan to raise up part of the railway and road according to contours and combine low-lying areas in front of and behind transportation to be a complete wetland with some ponds. To replace those houses for removal, three kind of affordable housing will tackle this problem. The first one is floating sustainable housing in wetland ponds. The second type is to utilize vacant lots and fill in modularized, prefabricated houses and the last kind is apartment buildings on the edge of community facing refinery. The second one to develop an energy recycled corridor between refinery and community. Then based on this ecological core to create an urban ecological network with different-scale parks, gardens, LID streets, sewage with filtration system, electricity grid of algae fuel over the community, providing equal access for each resident to nature world with less greenhouse gases, cheaper energy resource. The bottom bird-view section shows the proposed vision in 2050 with overlapping system. As for The detailed mechanism of multi-benefit corridor and community network, They are placed along the landscape sequence from wetland reserve, riverbank park, algae farm to pharmaceutical campus and rodeo hobby ranch on the hill. As for energy, different kinds of byproducts can be transformed into usable resource for different typology of landscape in the corridor and can be reprocessed to be directly useable resource like clean water, electricity for the whole community. This is the calculation of proposed occupations. There will be 1050 new jobs like construction workers, scientist to run pharmaceutical company, and farmers. Decarbonization will be achieved through more wetland, grassland, and fire-resistant woodland with specific species. At last, we can meet justice and share equal rights to live in adequate affordable housing, equal rights to commute to work, relax and equal rights to safe, better life.

This is the proposed plan for Rodeo and I also made some envisioned scenery in wetland and rodeo ranch. Rodeo enjoys a glorious history of rodeo culture and industry. But as time goes by, the development seems to be not that pleasant. Hope with this project could find the potential to effectively improve the living standard here, show how residents here to contribute to vulnerable ecology and positively adapt to flood and refinery reality, and finally bring them glory back.